Before and After Death
by Chicken Yuki
Summary: Time has passed since the end of War, and Roswell resisted sleeping since then.  When he is haunted by the ghost of Rosary one night, Roswell is strangely relaxed. Why has she truly returned from the dead?  And what does Roswell know about the haunting?


_Disclaimer: Me no own rights to Yggdra Union. Also, me no caveman. However, if me be caveman, me be smarter than therapists. That is all…_

**Yggdra Union**

**Before and After Death**

Much time has passed since the defeat of Nessiah and his plot to rebel against the Gods.

The young head of the Black Rose House, Roswell of Branthese, was spending the night at a lavish Inn as a stop on the Paltina's Troupe's journey home. He had witnessed so many atrocities during the War against Bronquia, along with the very one he was in part responsible for out of the Civil War he started with his former living cousin, Rosary of the White Rose house, and it eventually managed to take a toll on his sleeping. Although the afflicted noble was afflicted with considerable insomnia, he had an eerily calm expression in each and every sleepless night, including this one. In fact, it was more than a simple look of calm, as there was subtle hint of anticipation in eyes.

"I wonder if tonight will be that night… unless her intended revenge is to keep me waiting for eternity." Roswell said aloud with an amused grin.

"Right at death, I'd assume she'd be haunting me ruthlessly, but I guess she's taking her sweet time. Yggdra did mention confronting her vengeful spirit at the Sacred Grounds before her coronation, though. Yes, it would make more sense that she'd set her sights on the Queen, I'll admit. It was she that killed my cousin in the first place, but I'd assume she'd have plenty of leftover anger for my sake."

The handsome necromancer then glanced to the side to see his dearly departed cousin's cap: the trophy of death presented by Milianor in Yggdra's bid to save their homeland from the destruction of an ongoing civil war. He then sighed with a look of disappointment.

"Surely her grudge with Yggdra can't be all the business she had to take care of before death, can it? Well, that's really is everything that's kept her tied to the living world, there's no reason for me to keep delaying my rest, is there? That's a shame then… I know there's a lot more she'd want to get off her chest if she were still around, but at least I can finally get a good night's rest."

The whimsical noble then removed his puffed cap neatly atop a nearby table and shut his smug eyes with sweet relief…

"You're not getting off that easy, my dear cousin…" an agitated voice spoke aloud.

Roswell chuckled shamelessly upon hearing the voice he had recognized so easily.

"I had expected you for quite a while, cousin Rosary! I don't know what kept you so long, but at least we can finally have it all out." He said as if he was greeting welcome company.

He open his eyes to see the transparent, blue monochrome image that was Rosary's spirit. Her once ruby eyes that were usually full of arrogance were now full of frustration.

"How could you be acting so calmly around a ghost, let alone the one of your archrival? Honestly, you could at least give me the satisfaction of being scared out of your wits like a normal person would!" Rosary's ghost complained.

"I'm afraid not, my dear. You see, after dabbling in the studies of the dead for so long, apparitions such are yourself no longer give me reason to fear. I know most people say that Necromancy is a rather depressing study, but that's just all the pessimists who go into it to defy death for their own reasons. They all make the common mistake of going into the field without being enthusiastic over what Necromancy really can offer, and it's truly a fun an exciting kind of power to wield." Roswell refuted.

"Right… besides, you'd have no interest to bring back the very person scheming against you her entire life to ensure your own safety, I assume?" Rosary ghost scoffed.

"Well, I could, but I doubt you'd like the conditions. You'd be back, but as a big stack of bones that has to follow my every whim. And as fun as it would be to have the remnants of your corpse dance to rhythm of my choice, it wouldn't be a very dignified on your account, wouldn't it?" Roswell mocked.

"It seems you've been enjoying yourself since my death finally came. But do you honestly have to be so jovial about it? Your casual grin always sickened me…" Rosary's ghost scowled.

"As did your arrogant smile, Rosary. But face the facts: It was I who ended up winning out in the end." He smirked.

"Can you really be so shameless and conceited? Every single competition we've had in life, and I grew confident as I gained the upper hand. But now you pride yourself the ultimate winner in a mere game of luck? Do you honestly think you'd have won that war had that accursed Princess stepped in?" Rosary's ghost demanded.

Roswell sighed.

"That little war of ours turned out be meaningless. If it had gone on, there would've been nothing left for either of us. And besides, were both---"

"Don't you dare say it!" Rosary's ghost interrupted.

Roswell looked at his cousin's spirit curiously.

"What, that we were tricked into the war? Even I hate to admit the truth, but our competitive spirits towards each other were taken advantage of by some insane angel. You should know this very well when the guy used your anger to---"

" Shut up! Stop making up excuses! That war was between us, and about us alone! You're just afraid that I would've been the victor… that I would've been the one to hold both ankhs within my grasp and finally overshadow you as the greatest Magister alive!" Rosary's ghost shouted in a huff.

"How odd…a ghost in denial…" Roswell remarked.

"And so you still act so insolent towards an unearthly spirit." Rosary's ghost uttered bitterly. "You would dare risk incurring my wrath and be condemned to the ceaseless haunting and suffering of your soul?"

Still, the master of the Black Rose house remained unfazed.

"If there's anything useful I've learned in my studies, it's that even ghosts aren't omnipotent. If that were the case, I would've gladly invited myself to a gruesome death just to spite you. Now quit acting all high and mighty, I know why you're really here…" Roswell replied coolly.

Suddenly, Rosary's ethereal form began to tremble. Her expression appeared as if she had just been stripped naked.

"So… is that why you're amusing yourself with me all this time? I refuse to move on because of such ridiculous terms! Especially if it means having to humble myself before you when I know you would never---"

"I was fully prepared to apologize for my transgressions the moment I found out you died, but you never showed yourself to me in either sleeping or waking consciousness!" Roswell barked unexpectedly.

The specter's eyes widened.

"…What?" Rosary's ghost uttered quietly.

"Despite how long and deep our rivalry ran, it was always you who was the more prideful one! I thought I could put and end to this stupid struggle between us once I claimed your ankh and have that joined power utilized for more useful purposes like protecting both our lands, but it's clear I got too earnest with my retaliation and made a big mess out of it! I have nothing to be proud of in the aftermath, yet you really expect me to still care about what other kind of travesty could've come of it? I'm not so proud as to enjoy condemning you to an eternal hell tolerating the land of living, but it seems you're quite the masochist, aren't you?" Roswell continued ranting.

The shaken spirit continued to stare in disbelief.

"Rosary… I'm sorry… I'm sorry for all the mistakes I've made that cost you in the past…. I'm sorry that I let an ambition go to my head… I'm sorry that the war ended up costing you your life. But you need to get over yourself! Please… move on and be at peace!" he cried in a stern tone.

Suddenly, Rosary's spirit appeared to be crying…

"Wh…why are you saying this to me? What are you plotting? You're just trying to rid yourself of my presence once and for all, aren't you? Heh… I won't---"

The restless spirit was held back by her own overwhelming suffering.

"How does it feel… to be stripped of the malice that had kept your feelings guarded so well?" Roswell asked in a low tone.

Rosary's spirit reeled over in pain. Her lucid form appeared that it would come apart at any minute.

"Silence!" she shouted again. "You and your poisoned tongue… what possible reason would you have to know that I've finally found peace? With the life we've had scheming against each other, what sort of compassion would you have for me? "

"…you were the only family I had left…" Roswell confessed solemnly.

"What… ridiculous reason is that? Surely you don't believe in foolish sentiment like that!" Rosary replied.

"Are you really so blind with pride as to not see the truth?" Roswell asked. "It was circumstances of birth and politics and spawned this rivalry! Had it been any other way, perhaps…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but the greatest shock had come to his ghostly visitor.

"…You still don't hate me?" Rosary's ghost asked in a soft voice.

Roswell shook his head.

"I apologize for all the hate you had to endure. So please, let me forgive you in return…" he request.

The subdued spirit gazed at him for a moment. The anxiety within her seemed ready to burst at the seam. Eventually, she forced herself to bow her head.

"I'm… sorry…." Rosary's spirit uttered with a quivering voice.

Roswell witnessed this occurrence with a curious look. Although it was most awkward for him to see the arrogant woman in deep humility before him, it was also a relieving moment for the both of them.

The noble Necromancer nodded.

"Are you fine?" he asked sincerely.

."I feel strange, actually. It's like something's flowing out of me…" Rosary replied.

"All that has kept you from moving on… it's leaving your soul. Your time finally come." Roswell explained calmly.

Rosary's spirit looked at him in shock. His sudden apathy seemed to give him the aura of the Grim Reaper itself.

"What? But…"

"Accept the calm that will soon fill your soul. You've made your amends and now it is time. You're dead… this wasn't supposed to be an excuse for us to quarrel endlessly...You must go." Roswell said.

"But… I…"

Rosary's spirit suddenly gasped as she inhaled an eerie fog that quickly enveloped her. Suddenly, the fog lifted and the once faded form became a being of heavenly light.

"This feeling… what is it?" the Angelic form of Rosary asked in an unusually serene tone.

"It's your soul in its most purified form… enjoy that feeling as you wish." Roswell replied.

At that moment, light of Rosary's pure soul started to fade in flicker. Roswell simply watched on with content as his cousin was finally ready to depart the world of the living. But right before her last flicker, Roswell had witnessed her warm and gentle smile for the first and final time.

"Thank you…" said the voice of Rosary's pure soul as it faded in the darkness.

Roswell nodded once. He then stared outside the window where a new moon shone in the night sky. A single tear rolled down his left cheek as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"_Finally… you're free…"_


End file.
